Received, caught up. ↩
Goods, moveables. ↩
Commended. ↩
Then. ↩
Cause to be established or made. ↩
Honourably, decorously. ↩
Is called. ↩
“The introduction,” says Tyrwhitt, “of the ‘Canon’s Yeoman’ to tell a tale at a time when so many of the original characters remain to be called upon, appears a little extraordinary. It should seem that some sudden resentment had determined Chaucer to interrupt the regular course of his work, in order to insert a satire against the alchemists. That their pretended science was much cultivated about this time, and produced its usual evils, may fairly be inferred from the Act, which was passed soon after, 5 H. IV c. IV, to make it felony ‘to multiply gold or silver, or to use the art of multiplication.’ ” Tyrwhitt finds in the prologue some colour for the hypothesis that this “Tale” was intended by Chaucer to begin the return journey from Canterbury; but against this must be set the fact that the Yeoman himself expressly speaks of the distance to Canterbury yet to be ridden. ↩
From some place which the loss of the Second Nun’s prologue does not enable us to identify. ↩
Nag. ↩
Dapple-gray. ↩
Spurred. ↩
Scarcely. ↩
The breastplate of a horse’s harness; French, poitrail. ↩
Spotted. ↩
A double valise; a wallet hanging across the crupper on either side of the horse. ↩
Considered. ↩
Cord. ↩
Mad. ↩
Burdock-leaf. ↩
Still. ↩
Wallflower. ↩
Fortune. ↩
Knows. ↩
Not less than. ↩
If. ↩
Unless. ↩
Learn. ↩
Advantage. ↩
Surpassing, extraordinary. ↩
A scholar, or a man in holy orders. ↩
Certainly. ↩
Knows. ↩
Learn, know. ↩
Honour, reputation. ↩
Little. ↩
Upper garment; breeches. ↩
Prosper. ↩
Soiled, slovenly. ↩
Buy. ↩
Thrive. ↩
Own (to him). ↩
Stand the test or proof. ↩
Ignorant, stupid. ↩
Foolish. ↩
No matter. ↩
Skill, knowledge. ↩
Wise. ↩
Corners. ↩
Nature. ↩
Truth. ↩
By Saint Peter! ↩
An exclamation of dislike and ill-will; “confound it!” ↩
Labour. ↩
Transmute metals, in the attempt to multiply gold and silver by alchemy. ↩
Toil. ↩
Pore, peer anxiously. ↩
Cause. ↩
Fancy. ↩
Search, strive. ↩
Surely. “Conscius ipse sibi de se putat omnia dici”—De Moribus, l. I dist. 17. ↩
Saying. ↩
Then. ↩
Pay dear for it. ↩
Little. ↩
Some diversion. ↩
Destroy. ↩
Promise. ↩
A serious matter. ↩
Trouble, injury. ↩
The “Tale of the Canon’s Yeoman,” like those of the “Wife of Bath” and the “Pardoner,” is made up of two parts; a long general introduction, and the story proper. In the case of the “Wife of Bath,” the interruptions of other pilgrims, and the autobiographical nature of the discourse, recommend the separation of the prologue from the “Tale” proper; but in the other cases the introductory or merely connecting matter ceases wholly where the opening of “The Tale” has been marked in the text. ↩
Nearer. ↩
By my labour. ↩
My sight is grown dim; perhaps the phrase has also the metaphorical sense of being deceived or befooled. ↩
Slippery, deceptive. ↩
Property. ↩
Repay. ↩
Betaketh; designeth to occupy him in that art. ↩
His prosperity at an end. ↩
Jeopardy, hazard. In Froissart’s French, a jeu partie is used to signify a game or contest in which the chances were exactly equal for both sides. ↩
Wicked folk. ↩
Trouble. ↩
No matter. ↩
Fantastic, wicked. ↩
Learned and strange. ↩
Scales; Latin, squamae. ↩
Cementing, sealing up. ↩
Slow. ↩
Quick. ↩
White lead. ↩
A certain number or proportion. ↩
Unlearned. ↩
Vessels for distillation “per descensum;” they were placed under the fire, and the spirit to be extracted was thrown downwards. ↩
Crucibles; French, creuset. ↩
Retorts; distilling-vessels; so called from their likeness in shape to a gourd—Latin, cucurbita. ↩
Stills, limbecs. ↩
At the price of, in exchange for, a leek. ↩
Agrimony. ↩
Moonwort. ↩
White of egg, glair; French, glaire; German, ey, an egg. ↩
The meaning of
